WASHINGTON (AP) — Vladimir Putin paid scant attention to Fiona Hill, a preeminent U.S. expert on Russia, when she was seated next to him at dinners. Putin’s people placed her there by design, choosing a “nondescript woman,” as she put it, so the Russian president would have no competition for attention. The questions at the news conference “got right to the heart of his insecurities,” Hill writes. “Trump sees that and says what’s there not to like about that kind of situation?” Hill told the AP. The result is what she calls a “crisis of opportunity” and the rise of populist leaders like Putin, Trump and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson able to tap into the fears and grievances of those feeling left behind.

Source: thestar October 11, 2021 04:07 UTC